Movable eye for dolls and the like



March 15, 1932. J. L. mom 1,849,304

MOVABLE EYE FOR DOLLS AND THE LIKE F'il ed Feb. 25, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheetl NV TOR ATTORNEYIS March 15, 1932. J UTOMY MOVABLE EYE FOR DOLLS ANDTHE LIKE Filed Feb. 25, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 H INVENTOR ATTORNEYS 1Patented Mar. 15, 1932 UNITED, STATES.

PATENT. F

JOHN L. LITOMY, OF- GLEN RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-THIRD T0JOSEPH I A..-'1AFEBNEB, on NEW YORK, N. Y., AND ONE-THIRD TO LEO J.scnnr'rznn, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

MOVABLE EYE FOR DOLLS .ANDLTHE LIKE Application filed February 25, 1931..Serial No. 51 8, 067..

This invention relates to movable eye constructions for dolls, displayfigures and the like, including eyeballs which are mounted inside thehead of the doll or figure to be visible through eye-openings and rotateto simulate movement of the eyes, as in opening and closing thereof.

Dolls heads are usually made of'a plastic composition which duringmanufacture often shrinks or expands so that the eyeopenings indifferentheads'may be different distances apart or may be located in variouspositions vertically of the face, or the face portions of the heads mayvary in their rea lation to the other portions. Also, while in use theheads may be similarly distorted from their original shapes.Accordingly, it has been diflicult to produce movable eye devices whichcan be easily and quickly adjusted to accommodate such variations asoccur during manufacture or to permit the eyeballs to adjust themselvesrelatively to the eye-openings whenthe' distortions occur while the dollis in use. -Many attempts 0 have been made to produce satisfactorymovable eye constructions but such known devices have either been toocomplicated in structure, or required too much skilled labor for theirassembly, or have been unreliable and ineffective for the purpose.

It is-very desirable to utilize glass eyeballs such as shown in PatentsNos. 1,37 3,439 and 1,433,899, dated respectively April 5, 1921, andOctober 31, 1922, because such eyes are more natural in appearance andare more easily made than are metal eyeballsor eyeballs of othermaterial, some of which include a body portion and a coating such ascelluloid. However, great difliculty has been experienced in mountingglass eyeballs in movable eye devices, both because ,of the danger ofbreakageof the eyeballs and the complicated and expensive attachingdevices which have been thought necessary.

One object of my invention'is to provide a novel andimproved movableeyedevice of the general character described,*which shall be easily andquickly adjustable to accommodate variations in the positions of the eyesockets indiiferent heads, and shall easily nd quickly automaticallyadjust its lf f distortions of the head resulting in variations in therelation of the eye-sockets while the dollhead is in use. 1 e

A further object is to provide a novel and improved mounting forthe'yoke whereby-the yoke may bodily move in practicallyall directionsto compensate for variations in the relations of the'eye-sockets to eachotherland to the other portions ofthe head, so that the eyeballs shallbe freely movable even when the eye-sockets become seriously dislocated.

.Other objects areto provide such a' rnovlable eye constructionincluding a supporting bar to be substantially rigidly mounted in thefor holding the yoke, said bracket being re siliently movable inpractically all directions relatively to the supporting bar and f .0011-stantlyrnaintaining a yielding pressure on the yoke to holdthe'eyeball's in theirsockets,

so that the eyeballs will properly operate even when the eye-sockets areseriously dislocated from the ideal relation to each other and to theother portions of the head; to provide a noveland improved supportingbar in whichcorresponcling andj-like parts are designated throughout theseveral views by the same reference characters,

Figure 1 is a transverse vertical sectional view through a dolls headtakenon the'line 1-.1 ofFigure 2,"and showinga movable eye mechanismembodying my invention'applied thereto. I

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional A view taken on the line22 of Figure 1, I

v V, 7 65 head and havmgthereon a spring bracket Figure 3 is a detachedside elevation of the eyeball yoke having the eyeballs attached theretoshowing the manner of adjusting the eyeballs.

Figure 4 is a detached front elevation of the eyeball yoke and eyeballs.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of the yoke showing anotheradjustment of the eyeball.

Figure 6 is a view similar to. Figure 1 showing the face portion ofthe'doll head and the yoke and mounting mechanism in the positionresulting from a shrinking inwardly of the face of the doll.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 2 showing the positionof the parts to accommodate a dislocation of the eye-sockets out ofhorizontal alinement. V

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 6' adjusted to a dislocation of theeye-sockets in a horizontal plane, as when shrinkage of the head hasmoved one eye-socket inwardly with respect to the other eye-socket.

Specifically describing the illustrated embodiment of the invention, thereference character A designates the hollow head of a doll of knownconstruction having the usual eyesockets B in the face portion thereof.In each of the eye-sockets is arranged an eyeball 1 mounted by amechanism C to rotate about a horizontal axis to simulate opening andclosing of the eyes. Each of the eyeballs 1 includes a hollow glass body2 having on its front portion the usual representation 3 of a pupil andan opening at its rear. Preferably lashes 10 are applied to the eyeballsin any'suitable manner. V

The eyeballs are mounted upon a yoke including two sheet metal parts 4each having a curved arm or goose-neck 5 the extremity of which isembedded in a plastic composition molded and hardened in one eyeball.The plastic composition 6 also serves to reenforce the glass body. Thetwo parts 4 are rigidly connected together by a pivot rod 7, and eachpart has a pendulum arm 8 integral with and disposed at an angle to thegoose-neck 5 and carrying a counter-weight 9. -The axis of the rod 7 ispreferably coincident with the axes of the eyeballs so that the eyeballsmay rotate concentrically with said rod.

For mounting the yoke in the doll head, I utilize a supporting bar 11which has a substantially rigid straight main portion 12, the rigidityofwhich is increased by side flanges 13. This bar 11 has its portionsangularly oflset as indicated at 120 and its end portions 14 disposedapproximatelyparallel with the main portion '12,,as clearly shown inFigure 1 of thedrawings. The bar is preferably ened so as to be easilybent, as by notches 15 in the edges. The head A of the doll has at thetop portion a seat 16 for one end of the bar, and at the chain portion asimilar seat 17 for the other end of the bar, the walls of the headadjacent said parts preferably being thicker than the other portions ofsaid body and the seats havingside walls 18 diverging therefrom to serveas guides for the ends of the bar as it is applied to the head.

Initially the bar is made with the offset portions 15 bent inwardlytoward'the main portion 12 as indicated by dot and dash lines in Figure1 so that the extremities of the bar are a distance apart less than thedistance between the seats 16 and 17. ,These extremities of the bar areconcave as at 19 to form sharp points 20 at their side edges, and a ribor the like 21 is stamped up from the bar at the base of the concaveportion. In applying the bar, it is slipped'into the head with oneextremity in each of the seats 16 and 17, after which the offsetportions 120 are forced away from each other by any suitable means so asto cause thepoints 20 to penetrate thewalls of the head wherebythe baris rigidly mounted in the head as shown by.

solid lines in Figure 1. Penetration of the points 20 is limited by theouter 'endsof the ribs 21 which serveas stops. The bar isfdisposedsubstantially mid-way between the eyesockets B and extends vertically ofthehead.

Secured to'the-bar is a yoke supporting spring bracket 22, said springbracket being arranged at the inner side of the bar 11,

'i. e., atthe side away from the eye-sockets,

and having at its ends ears 23 which are clamped around the main portion12 of the bar for rigidlyse'curing the bracket to the bar. Substantiallycentrally of its length the Spring bracket isprovided with integral arms24 disposed in embracing relation to the bar 11 and extending toward theinner wall of the face portion ofthedoll head. These arms have notches25 which receive the pivotvrod 7 of the yoke, and preferably the outerend of the notches are beveled as at 26 to facilitate slipping the armsover the pivot rod. At opposite sides of the arms 24, the bracket isprovided with loops 27 which extend away from the main portion 12 of thebar 11 to pro vide the necessary resiliency in the bracket, said loopsexpanding or contracting to exert yielding pressure on the pivot rod 7to force the eyeballs 1 into the respective eye-sockets.

In assembling the movable eye mechanism in a doll head, the. eyeballs 1arefirst adjusted by bending the goose-necks 5. as indiand 5, so thatthe eyeballs will accurately fit the respective eye-sockets. Thesupporting bar ll with the spring bracket 22, mount ed thereon, is thensecured in the head as above described, the notches 25 of the springbracket being slipped over the pivot rod 7. Normally this results in thecentral portion of the spring bracket being sprung away from the mainportion 12 of the bar by extension of the loops 27 so that the yo e isyieldingly pressed to yieldingly hold the eyeballs in their sockets asclearly shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings.

This action of the spring bracket compensates for variations indilferent heads in the distances between the plane of the sup portingbar and theeye-sockets, and for variations in said distance during useof the doll, as clearly shown in Figure 6 of the drawings where it willbe noted that the distance between the eye-socket and the supporting baris less than the corresponding distance in Figure 1 of the drawings.This difference could be occasioned by shrinking of the face portion ofthe head inwardly. Should the eye-sockets be dislocated out ofhorizontal alinement, the central portion of the spring bracket maytwist in the plane of the bracket by extension and contraction of theloops 27 so that the eyeballs will accurately fit the sockets as shownin Figure 7 of the drawings. If the eye-sockets should be verticallydislocated, i. e., should the eye sockets be further from the chinportion of the head than is normal, one of the loops 27 will extend andthe other will contract to tions it will be observed that the springbracket will always yieldingly hold the eyeballs in their sockets andthe pivot rod 7 may freely rotate in the spring bracket so that theeyeballs may properly move in the eyesockets.

This movement of the eyeballs is usually produced by pendulous action ofthe arms 8 and counterweights 9 of the yoke; that is, when the head isvertically disposed the counter-weights 9 under action of gravity rotatethe pivot rod to move the eyeballs into a simulation of open-eyeposition, such-movement being limited by engagement of thecounter-weights with the inner walls of the neck portion of the dollhead as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings. When the doll head isdisposed horizontally as in reclining position, the counter-weights 9under action of gravity rotate the rod 7 to move the eyes.

in the sockets to simulate closing of'the eyes. For the purpose oflimiting this movement and to prevent strain upon the eye-lashesat thelower edgesoflthe eye-(opening, stop arms 28 ma be provided"o'n-theygo'ose necks fi of The planes of the metal of the -armsl':

of the: goose-neck =5-are preferably transverse tively resist strainsincident to swinging "of theyoke. V

i hile'I have shown ia'nd 'describedthe inventionias 'embodied incertaindetails ofconstruction it should be understood that this-isprimarilyv for-illustrating the principles of the invention and thatmany modifications and changes may be made in the details ofconstruction without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention. Therefore I do not desire to be limited in the constructionand use of the invention except as required by the following claims whenconstrued in the light of the prior art.

' Having thus described my invention, what i I claim is: I

'1. An eye construction for dolls including a pair of sheet metal partseach including a pendulum armand an integral goose-neck at an angle tosaid pendulum arm, a pivot rod rigidly'connecting said parts at thejuncture of said goose-necks and said pendulum arms and disposed withits axis perpendicular to the planes of said sheet metal parts, and aneyeball fixedly securedupon the free end of each of said goose-necks.

2. The combination with a hollow doll head having eye openings, of amovable eye mechanism including a pair of eyeballs, a yoke connectingsaid eyeballs, and a spring support for'saidyoke having its ends rigidlyconnected to said head and formed with integral loops. intermediate its.ends to permit said yoke to move in all directions relative to the headso as to ensure fitting of said eyeballs in said eye-socket.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2 wherein said spring support hasspaced arms formed with notches facing in the direction of said eyeopenings to rotatably receive said yoke'so that said yoke may yield inall directions relative to said head to ensure fitting of said eyeballsin said eye openings.

4. The combination set forth in claim 2 I wherein said yoke is mountedon said support between said loops so that said loops may extend andcontract and permit said yoke to j move in all directions relative tosaid head to ensure accurate fitting of said eyeballs in said eyeopenings.

5. A movable eye mechanism for dolls comprising a support bar havingintermediate.

fiao to. enter the walls of a dolls head and secure the'bar therein bybending said ofiset portions away from each other, aspring strip havingits ends fixedly secured to said central pori .tion atone side thereof,said strip being formed with integral loops spaced longitudinallythereof and arms between said loops in embracing relation to saidcentral portion of the bar, each arm being formed with a notch in itsouter free edge, and an eyeball vyoke' having a pivot rodrotatablyarranged in said notches.

- JOHN L. LITOMY.

